Search

AbstractThis study examines the relationship between transparency and trust in AI. Traditional interpersonal trust attributes are considered mediators between transparency and trust. However, in the context of AI, the role of trust attributes has been redefined. Transparency is divided into accuracy, clarity, and disclosure, whereas trust in AI is identified through functionality, helpfulness, and predictability. The survey analysis and experimental evidence revealed the dynamic relationships between these factors. Accuracy and clarity influence the overall trust in AI by alleviating distrust only when interacting with functionality and helpfulness, respectively. Furthermore, predictability serves as a mediator, diminishing the mistrust between AI transparency and the overall trust in AI. The human capability to interpret information provided by AI transparency enhances this mediation. This study not only enhances understanding within the AI domain but also contributes significantly to the nuanced comprehension of the complex relationship between AI transparency and trust in AI, expanding previous simplistic interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the burgeoning literature on entrepreneurial commitment by providing a first empirical investigation of Howard Becker's side-bet theory in the context of nascent entrepreneurship. We investigate how different forms of commitment relate to both entrepreneurial behavior and various side-bet categories: satisfying conditions, non-work concerns, others' expectations, impersonal bureaucratic arrangements, perceived lack of alternatives, individual adjustments to social positions, and self-presentation concerns. We collected data from a representative sample (n = 242) of individuals granted with the French national student-entrepreneur status (NSES). Results froms hierarchical linear regressions reveal different patterns of side bets associated with entrepreneurial commitment, depending on its nature (value-based or exchange-based) and on its focus (the project or the profession). Our study (1) extends side-bet theory to the field of entrepreneurship and (2) improves understanding of factors associated with commitment during the volitional phase of the entrepreneurial process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the impact of psychological needs on employees' enjoyment and volition at work, leading to employees' intentions in digital workplace transformation. For this purpose, partial least squares – structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to assess survey data from 323 local government employees. The findings suggested that employee perceptions of psychological needs fulfillment positively affect workplace enjoyment and volition, which leads to great digital engagement. Digital engagement also assisted employees in promoting the local government's digital workplace transformation. Furthermore, training and development programs were also vital in boosting the impact of digital engagement on employees' digital workplace transformation intentions. Finally, theoretical and practical implications were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The law assumes that healthy adults are generally responsible for their actions and have the ability to control their behavior based on rational and moral principles. This contrasts with some recent neuroscientific accounts of action control. Nevertheless, both law and neuroscience acknowledge that strong emotions including fear and anger may "trigger" loss of normal voluntary control over action. Thus, "Loss of Control" is a partial defense for murder under English law, paralleling similar defenses in other legal systems. Here we consider the neuroscientific evidence for such legal classifications of responsibility, particularly focussing on how emotional states modulate voluntary motor control and sense of agency. First, we investigate whether neuroscience could contribute an evidence-base for law in this area. Second, we consider the societal impact of some areas where legal thinking regarding responsibility for action diverges from neuroscientific evidence: should we be guided by normative legal traditions, or by modern understanding of brain functions? In addressing these objectives, we propose a translation exercise between neuroscientific and legal terms, which may assist future interdisciplinary research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the burgeoning literature on entrepreneurial commitment by providing a first empirical investigation of Howard Becker’s side-bet theory in the context of nascent entrepreneurship. We investigate how different forms of commitment relate to both entrepreneurial behavior and various side-bet categories: satisfying conditions, non-work concerns, others’ expectations, impersonal bureaucratic arrangements, perceived lack of alternatives, individual adjustments to social positions, and self-presentation concerns. We collected data from a representative sample (n = 242) of individuals granted with the French national student-entrepreneur status (NSES). Results froms hierarchical linear regressions reveal different patterns of side bets associated with entrepreneurial commitment, depending on its nature (value-based or exchange-based) and on its focus (the project or the profession). Our study (1) extends side-bet theory to the field of entrepreneurship and (2) improves understanding of factors associated with commitment during the volitional phase of the entrepreneurial process.

The benefits of positive intergroup contact for intergroup attitudes are well‐established. Yet individual and group self‐segregation practices demonstrate that opportunities for intergroup contact are not sufficient for contact uptake; and persistent institutionalized segregation reinforces and compounds this problem. Hence, we need to understand what drives people towards and away from intergroup contact and what consequences the capacity to deliberately engage or avoid contact has for individuals, groups, and communities. This paper formally introduces the concept of intergroup contact volition: our perceived personal control over intergroup contact engagement and avoidance. We demonstrate this concept's theoretical, political, and practical significance by highlighting its embeddedness in both old and recent literature. We document debates around volition in early intergroup contact research and note a prolonged neglect since. After discussing reasons for that neglect, we present a detailed analysis of the concept, outlining how the idea of volition itself is contested and political, as well as the ways it intersects with broader societal power and status dynamics. We then outline pathways for future research, including investigations of when taking volition away (making contact mandated) might be helpful, intersections between psychological and human geography perspectives on volition, and connections between volition and system justification. We argue that contact volition is intimately and ultimately linked to issues of social change: support of, versus resistance to, policies promoting intergroup integration. As a result, an enhanced understanding of volition is critical to developing intergroup contact research and practice into outcomes that maximize social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify the determinants associated with physical activity (PA) behavior in newly diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients by applying the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) with a longitudinal design. Anthropometric and clinical (OSA severity, subjective somnolence, use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)) variables, the determinants of physical activity specified in the HAPA (motivational self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, risk perception, intention, maintenance self-efficacy, action planning, coping planning, social support), as well as physical activity behavior were assessed using a longitudinal (T1 and T2) design in a sample of 57 OSA patients in routine care. Applying regression analyses, regarding the motivation phase, the amount of explained variance in intention was 77% and 39% of the variance in physical activity. In the motivational phase, motivational self-efficacy, risk perception and outcome expectancies were associated with intention. In the volitional phase, physical activity at T1 and social support (family) were related with physical activity at T2. In conclusion, the assumptions of HAPA were partially found in the context of newly diagnosed OSA patients. This study provided additional evidence regarding the role of motivational self-efficacy, outcome expectancies and risk perception during motivational phase, and highlighted the important role of social support from the family in the PA in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Post-stroke depression is a frequent but under-diagnosed condition. Nevertheless, it impacts participation in activities of daily living (ADLs) and the rehabilitation process. The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of post-stroke depression on participation in ADLs and on occupational therapy (OT) intervention in adults. Methods: An observational study was conducted through a survey. The questionnaire covered OTs view about the influence of post-stroke depression on ADLs and occupational therapy treatment. Data collected by online questionnaire were analyzed through STATA®, using a mixed method. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analyzed by thematic analysis. Results: Sixty-three surveys were valid. Stroke adults manifest hopelessness toward the future, crying and nervousness ("often" / "always" >50%). They have often worse occupational performance than patients with stable mood (55.56%), especially in self-care activities (35.92%). The performance limiting factors are low volition (41%), reduced motor skills (30%), and reduced cognitive skills (19%). OT intervention with these patients aims to increase volition (21.30%), recover roles (16.61%), and improve self-care activities (14.08%). Conclusion: Mood disorders negatively affect participation in ADLs and OT intervention. This study highlights the importance of volitional factors in promoting occupational engagement and provides guidance for OT treatment. Further investigation through specific studies appears necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this conceptual contribution, we argue that experimental investigations of phenomena in the cognitive sciences and consciousness research may benefit from a thorough integration of data acquired from the first-person perspective. We present a line of research from our lab applying this approach to the Libet task on voluntary action. In this well-known experimental paradigm, participants perform a movement at a moment of their own choice. Previous research has shown that this voluntary decision to perform the action is preceded by a specific pattern in the electroencephalogram, the so-called readiness potential. This finding that the decision is preceded (and presumably determined) by an action-related brain processes puts the neuroscientific account at odds with our subjective intuition and challenges the notion of free will. This discrepancy exemplifies the gap between neuro-cognitive models of the mind and the accounts of our conscious experience. The aim of our theoretical proposal is to enrich the study of volitional action by integrating reports from the first-person perspective with the Libet paradigm to develop a more coherent account. This provides an example of implementing the research program of neurophenomenology developed by Francisco Varela to overcome the gap between scientific accounts of the mind and subjective experience. Specifically, we show how this can be achieved by interweaving three methodological approaches: (i) adapting common neuro-cognitive paradigms (i.e., the Libet task); (ii) employing refined first-person methods such as the micro-phenomenological interview; and (iii) collaborating with experienced meditators as research participants. Our contribution demonstrates how the neurophenomenological framework can be used to shed new light on long-standing and fundamental debates in consciousness research. We show that this approach not only addresses questions of intellectual curiosity but also has concrete ethical implications for the practice of science itself, self-determination, and the accountability of the conscious subject. On the basis of our approach, meditation can be seen as a method for enhancing self-regulation and self-determination, which allows for more deliberate decisions and thus more ethical behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates three puzzles concerning scalar nu‐V constructions in Taiwan Mandarin: (a) a scalar nu‐V construction is incompatible with state/achievement verbs, irrespective of the presence of a quantity phrase; (b) when combined with activity verbs, the inclusion of a quantity phrase appears obligatory for scalar nu‐V constructions in an out‐of‐the‐blue context; (c) under appropriate contextual support, bare nouns and demonstrative phrases can replace the typically obligatory quantity phrases to form a grammatical scalar nu‐V construction with an activity verb. We argue that the solutions to these puzzles lie in three core meaning components of scalar nu‐V constructions: (a) scalar presupposition; (b) association with focus; (c) volitional requirement. Specifically, we propose that (a) scalar nu is a scalar verbal modifier that forms a verbal compound with its following verb; (b) scalar nu introduces a scalar presupposition (based on the scalar associate) and the volitional requirement in scalar nu‐V constructions. If our analysis is correct, it suggests that the scalarity of a construction may come from a verbal modifier (e.g., scalar nu) in the formation of a compound verb, thereby enhancing our understanding of the compositionality of compound verbs in natural language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines how volition and desire are connected to tangible outcomes for a group of Theravāda Buddhists in rural Chiang Mai, Thailand. Understanding the ways that actions are related to goals in this community is particularly fruitful for the study of the will, because for many people in Thailand it is considered relatively futile to ‘want’ something. Instead of only willing change to occur, there is also a shared social and religious attention to impermanence and uncertainty that informs attitudes, suggesting a kind of non-willing work. Rather than this ‘un-willing’ resulting in a lack of control over one’s surroundings, or an inability to get things done, people see their non-will to be an agentic mechanism that creates desired effects. Parsing out how this cultivation of non-will serves personal and social ends allows for a re-centring of scholarly attention to moral worlds within cultures of volition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Study includes longitudinal multimodal assessments of RCMP cadets from pre-training (i.e., starting the Cadet Training Program [CTP]) to post-deployment and for five years thereafter. The data allow for investigating the multidimensionality of volitional participation in digital health data collection frameworks within serial data collection platforms and the impact of participation inequalities by classifying cadets using the 90-9-1 rule. By classifying cadets as Lurkers, Contributors, and Superusers formally described by the 90-9-1 rule, where 90% of actors do not participate, 9% seldom contribute, and 1% contribute substantially allows for the assessing of relationships between participation inequalities in self-monitoring behaviors as well as whether mental health disorder symptoms at pre-training (i.e., starting the CTP) were associated with subsequent participation. Methods: Participants were asked to complete a Full Assessment prior to their training at CTP, as well as short daily surveys throughout their training. Participation frequency was described using a process where participants were rank ordered by the number of daily surveys completed and classified into one of three categories. Full assessment surveys completed prior to their training at CTP included screening tools for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive disorder (MDD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol use disorder (AUD), and panic disorder (PD). The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to assess differences in participation rates between mental health disorder symptom screening groups for each measure at pre-training, and Spearman's Rho was used to test for associations amongst self-reported Full Assessment screening tool responses and the number of daily surveys completed during CTP. Results: There were 18557 daily survey records collected from 772 participants. The rank-ordering of cadets by the number of daily surveys completed produced three categories in line with the 90-9-1 rule: Superusers who were the top 1% of cadets (n=8) and produced 6.4% of all recordings; Contributors who were the next 9% of cadets (n=68) and produced 49.2% of the recordings; and Lurkers who were the next 90% of cadets (n=695) and produced 44.4% of daily survey recordings. Lurkers had the largest proportion of positive screens for selfreported mental health disorders at pre-training. Conclusion: The creation of highly individualized, population-based mental health injury programs has been limited by an incomplete understanding of the causal relationships between protective factors and mental health. Disproportionate rates of disengagement from persons who screen positive for mental health disorders further compounds the difficulty in understanding the relationships between training programs and mental health. The current results suggest persons with mental health challenges may be less likely to engage in some forms of proactive mental health training. The current results also provide useful information about participation, adherence, and engagement that can be used to inform evidence-based paradigm shifts in health-related data collection in occupational populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of voluntary visual spatial attention have used attention-directing cues, such as arrows, to induce or instruct observers to focus selective attention on relevant locations in visual space to detect or discriminate subsequent target stimuli. In everyday vision, however, voluntary attention is influenced by a host of factors, most of which are quite different from the laboratory paradigms that use attention-directing cues. These factors include priming, experience, reward, meaning, motivations, and high-level behavioral goals. Attention that is endogenously directed in the absence of external attention-directing cues has been referred to as "self-initiated attention" or, as in our prior work, as "willed attention" where volunteers decide where to attend in response to a prompt to do so. Here, we used a novel paradigm that eliminated external influences (i.e., attention-directing cues and prompts) about where and/or when spatial attention should be directed. Using machine learning decoding methods, we showed that the well known lateralization of EEG alpha power during spatial attention was also present during purely self-generated attention. By eliminating explicit cues or prompts that affect the allocation of voluntary attention, this work advances our understanding of the neural correlates of attentional control and provides steps toward the development of EEG-based brain-computer interfaces that tap into human intentions.

Aesthetic experience is an altered state of consciousness characterized by a detached absorption in an aesthetic object; it is a pleasant—sometimes ecstatic—liberation from the self and its agenda. I briefly review perceptual-cognitive and affective approaches used by psychologists to understand the phenomenon and suggest the need for a volitional perspective. To illustrate the nature and scope of aesthetic experience, I discuss nine varieties, elicited by different qualities in objects and evoking distinctive responses in perceivers. Over centuries, aesthetic devices have been developed that induce the aesthetic state by manipulating such psychological mechanisms as attention, appraisal, and empathy. I propose explanations for how several important devices operate, and why they are particularly effective in individuals high in the personality trait of Openness to Experience.

The law assumes that healthy adults are generally responsible for their actions and have the ability to control their behavior based on rational and moral principles. This contrasts with some recent neuroscientific accounts of action control. Nevertheless, both law and neuroscience acknowledge that strong emotions including fear and anger may “trigger” loss of normal voluntary control over action. Thus, “Loss of Control” is a partial defense for murder under English law, paralleling similar defenses in other legal systems. Here we consider the neuroscientific evidence for such legal classifications of responsibility, particularly focussing on how emotional states modulate voluntary motor control and sense of agency. First, we investigate whether neuroscience could contribute an evidence-base for law in this area. Second, we consider the societal impact of some areas where legal thinking regarding responsibility for action diverges from neuroscientific evidence: should we be guided by normative legal traditions, or by modern understanding of brain functions? In addressing these objectives, we propose a translation exercise between neuroscientific and legal terms, which may assist future interdisciplinary research.

The current study investigates the longitudinal association between decision-related action orientation (AOD, the ability to initiate the intended actions decisively) and academic engagement. Moreover, this study examines the roles of time management and intrinsic academic motivation in this relationship. Specifically, it is proposed that time management mediates the relationship between AOD and academic engagement, and this mediated effect is moderated by intrinsic academic motivation. The analysis of the data collected in three waves from 222 undergraduates (180 women) with a mean age of 20.98 years (SD = 2.73) confirmed the predictions. Time management mediated the relationship between AOD and academic engagement for students who reported high intrinsic motivation. Study results suggest that AOD and intrinsic academic motivation work synergetically to shape academic engagement through efficient time management. The study findings provide valuable insights for practice, emphasizing the consideration of both motivational and volitional processes, and time management strategies to contribute to student engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an investigation into the value-based affordances of volition as an integral philosophical component of technology education, specifically in relation to design methodology. As the central aspect of technology education, design has a prominent position in curricula all over the world, not just in subjects named Design and Technology, but also in most technology and engineering subjects in schools. In philosophy, it has been asserted that design volition (axiology) has a strong relationship with and in many ways forms the basis of design as a methodological stance. The primary philosophical frameworks used as the foundation for the philosophical analysis presented in this article are the ones introduced by Carl Mitcham in his Thinking through Technology (1994) and Andrew Feenberg's critical theory of technology. We perform a narrative review of relevant literature. Based on this review, we attempt a clearer definition of the lucid concept of volition/axiology in the literature, as well as explicate the relationship between axiology and methodology. In particular, we investigate this relationship in terms of values, intentionality, and sustainability in design. We review design as a societal and value-laden phenomenon, prone to strong and weak intentionality where expert and lay designers converge or diverge on sustainable values depending on the amount of interpretative flexibility. Concerning implications, school teaching needs to be founded on design volition which does not reduce technology education to technical education. Technology teachers and students need to be explicit about the values involved at all levels of technology and to clarify, justify, and debate their choices. Students must also be exposed to the way in which "sustainable values" might decrease interpretative flexibility and increase the opportunities for a technology to be sustainable in the medium to long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Turning during walking and volitionally modulating walking speed introduces complexity to gait and has been minimally explored. Research question: Howdo the spatiotemporal parameters vary between young adults walking at a normal speed and a slower speed whilemaking 90°, 180°, and 360° turns? Methods: In a laboratory setting, the spatiotemporal parameters of 10 young adults were documented as theymade turns at 90°, 180°, and 360°. A generalized linear model was utilized to determine the effect of both walking speed and turning amplitude. Results: Young adults volitionally reducing their walking speed while turning at different turning amplitudes significantly decreased their cadence and spatial parameters while increasing their temporal parameters. In conditions of slower movement, the variability of certain spatial parameters decreased, while the variability of some temporal parameters increased. Significance: This research broadens the understanding of turning biomechanics in relation to volitionally reducing walking speed. Cadence might be a pace gait constant synchronizing the rhythmic integration of several inputs to coordinate an ordered gait pattern output. Volition might up-regulate or down-regulate this pace gait constant (i.e., cadence) which creates the feeling of modulating walking speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Definitions of modeling competence in science education do not yet include noncognitive factors. However, noncognitive factors are central to competence and might thus substantially improve our understanding of modeling competence. In this article, we analyze volition during preservice science teachers' engagement with a black‐box modeling task and its relation to established aspects of modeling competence: metamodeling knowledge, modeling process, and modeling product. A cluster analysis of the occurrence of volition categories resulted in three clusters of volitional behavior. The clusters describe three different volition types: one action‐oriented type applying a self‐regulative strategy and two state‐oriented types applying self‐controlling strategies. Correlation analyses between clusters, volition categories and modeling process variables indicate benefits of the self‐regulative strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debates about the concept of Free Will date back to ancient times. About 40 years ago, Benjamin Libet designed an experiment showing that the conscious intention to move is preceded by a specific pattern of brain activation. His finding suggested that unconscious processes determine our decisions. Libet-style experiments have continued to dominate the debate about Free Will, pushing some authors to argue that the existence of Free Will is a mere illusion. We believe that this dispute is because we often measure Free Will using arbitrary human decisions rather than deliberate actions. After reviewing the definition of Free Will and the related literature, we conclude that the scientific evidence does not disprove the existence of Free Will. However, our will encounters several constraints and limitations that should be considered when evaluating our deeds' personal responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The paper presents the results of research into the features of volitional regulation among Tuvans living in rural areas and cities. Objectives. The study had its purpose to test the hypothesis about the relationship of volitional regulation with the characteristics of the lifestyle and semantic sphere of the respondents. Methods: “Action Control Scale”, “Questionnaire for identifying the severity of self-control in the emotional sphere, activity, and behavior”, PIL test, and the author's ad hoc questionnaire for studying the lifestyle characteristics. Sample. Tuvans living in Erzin (185 people), in Mugur-Aksy (265 people), in Kyzyl (172 people), and in Moscow (105 people) were compared. In total, the study involved 727 people aged 18 to 79 years, 466 women and 261 men. Results. It is shown that Tuvans living in rural vs urban areas assess their lifestyle differently. Rural residents are significantly more likely (p = 0.01) to assess their way of life as traditional whereas urban residents consider their lifestyle as modern (p = 0.01). MANOVA revealed the significant differences between the compared groups in all indicators of volitional regulation. Сovariance analysis showed that these differences are due to the lifestyle characteristics as well as the features of the respondents’ semantic sphere. The data processing obtained significant effects of the PIL test indicators and lifestyle characteristics for the Action Control Scale (p = 0.01 and p = 0.05, respectively), for emotional self-control (p = 0.01 and p = 0.01), behavioral self-control (p = 0.01 and p = 0.01), and social self-control (p = 0.01 and p = 0.01). Conclusion. The obtained results allow to assume that in the process of modernization/urbanization of Tuvan society, the role of traditions and group experience in the regulation of activity decreases whereas the role of volitional regulation increases.

In two ethnic contexts, we focus on volitional imagined contact as a potential method to increase individuals' readiness to voluntarily initiate intergroup contact and engage in responses with implications for reconciliation. In Study 1, we used a quasi-experimental design to determine the causal role of volitional (vs. non-volitional) valenced imagined contact with a refugee on downstream processes. Irrespective of volition, positive visualizations led to more positive outgroup emotions, action tendencies, and contact seeking; however, manipulated volition amplified the differential impact of valenced contact on outgroup emotions: negative contact was more detrimental when freely chosen, than forced, whereas positive contact was equally beneficial irrespective of volition. Study 2 investigated factors driving individuals' choices for positive (vs. negative) imagined contact in conflict-laden Cyprus and assessed immediate and longer-term consequences of such choices for interethnic contact seeking. In both studies, participants chose to engage in imagined contact of a valence that aligned with their prior contact histories consistent with an evaluative fit mechanism. Volitional valenced imagery predicted participants' active and self-initiated contact seeking immediately and after a 2-week period. Hence, volitional intergroup imagery as a "mental contact script" prepares individuals for actual intergroup contact and behaviors with implications for intergroup reconciliation and cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I explore the potential of the strategic/non-strategic distinction to link im/politeness with recent developments in pragmatics more generally. My point of departure is the claim that the binary between strategic/non-strategic politeness, as drawn in previous research starting with the distinction between discernment and volition, leaves a blind-spot when it comes to established ways of achieving politeness that do not rely on recognition of the speaker's intention, yet go beyond a pre-defined repertoire of forms. To shed light on this blind spot, I recruit the notions of first-order (S1) and higher-order (S2) polite speakers from Rational Speech Act models, which distinguish between different types of speakers depending on the degree to which they reason not just about their own goals but also about what the hearer thinks of them. However, contrary to the standard RSA model, I propose to think of such reflexive reasoning as a matter of degree, which can be used to explain a continuum of uses from strategic to non-strategic politeness. This move highlights points of contact between theoretical traditions that have developed independently and helps to reinstate im/politeness as a driver of pragmatics research broadly conceived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been shown that cognitive performance could be improved by expressing volition (e.g., making voluntary choices), which necessarily involves the execution of action through a certain effector. However, it is unclear if the benefit of expressing volition can generalize across different effectors. In the present study, participants made a choice between two pictures either voluntarily or forcibly, and subsequently completed a visual search task with the chosen picture as a task-irrelevant background. The effector for choosing a picture could be the hand (pressing a key), foot (pedaling), mouth (commanding), or eye (gazing), whereas the effector for responding to the search target was always the hand. Results showed that participants responded faster and had a more liberal response criterion in the search task after a voluntary choice (vs. a forced choice). Importantly, the improved performance was observed regardless of which effector was used in making the choice, and regardless of whether the effector for making choices was the same as or different from the effector for responding to the search target. Eye-movement data for oculomotor choice showed that the main contributor to the facilitatory effect of voluntary choice was the post-search time in the visual search task (i.e., the time spent on processes after the target was found, such as response selection and execution). These results suggest that the expression of volition may involve the motor control system in which the effector-general, high-level processing of the goal of the voluntary action plays a key role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: People living with advanced cancer want to continue participating in their valued occupations amid cancer progression. However, increasing dependence and bodily deterioration challenge a person's ability to do so, thus requiring adaptation to how they engage in their occupations. Theoretical frameworks on the process of occupational adaptation often do not address the implications of progressive functional decline. Methods: A longitudinal phenomenological design was used to understand the lived experience of occupational engagement for working‐aged adults living with advanced cancer. A semi‐structured interview series explored participants' experience of occupational engagement and how this changed over time. Data were analysed thematically and mapped against the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO). Findings: Eight adults (40–64 years old) participated in 33 interviews over 19 months. Three themes were constructed from the data: ongoing adaptation through doing, the significance of volition in adaptation, and everyday life is contingent on my environment. Study findings demonstrate that the process of adaptation occurs through occupational engagement, is motivated by volition, and is affected by the environment. Volition and the environment play a more central role in occupational adaptation than occupational competency for the advanced cancer cohort. Conclusion: Study findings further MOHO's theoretical conceptualisation of occupational adaptation by identifying the centrality of volition and the environment in the process of adaptation. For people living with advanced cancer, disease progression results in unremitting functional decline, thus rendering competency an unstable and untenable construct. Rather, this paper argues that occupational adaptation is facilitated by volition (i.e., the motivation behind the doing) and the environment, thus fostering a sense of identity and meaning at the end of life. Occupational therapists' awareness of the significance of volition and the environment can thus foster continued occupational engagement and meaning at the end of life for people living with advanced cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how urban middle-aged education program participants can increase their agricultural entrepreneurship volition (AEV) during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. We examined the direct and indirect effects of formal learning experiences (FLE) and informal learning experiences (ILE) on AEV. Multiple regression, mediation, moderation, and moderated mediation methods using Process Macro were conducted with 411 samples. ILE and outcome expectancy had direct positive effects on volition, while FLE and social networking did not. Both learning experiences had indirect effects on AEV through social networking and outcome expectancy. The group who spent above 100 hours in formal learning had a moderating effect on the relationship between FLE and outcome variables compared to those who spent less than 50 hours. Considering the limited middle-aged adults' digital accessibility, developing user-friendly distance education guidelines, supporting social networking and ILE, and tailoring programs to individual expectations are required to encourage agricultural entrepreneurship. Combining career transition perspective and migration perspective, this article contributes to a theoretical framework explaining urban middle-aged adults' agricultural entrepreneurship. This paper approaches middle-aged adults' agricultural entrepreneurship as a career transition event for their old stage of life and quantifies determinants of AEV during COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the history of Philosophy, there have been three general approaches to relation between faith in God and faith in other religious facts on the one hand, and reasoning on the other hand, including strong rationalism, Fideism, and a combination of these two approaches such as Agustin's opinion. This paper has been written to show that based on the Holy Qur'ān, people indeed establish their faith based on volition, not inference. The Holy Qur'ān says that a minimal level of rationality is enough to have faith in God and after that, there is not any other way for people rather than choosing faith. According to the Holy Qur'ān, volition is so determinative for faith that God has planned some experiments to put people in voluntary situations. This approach shows that the Holy Qur'ān's point of view rejects the philosophical idea of Strong Rationalism for faith in God. In the Holy Qur'ān (the Muslims' Holy Book), there are several ways to approve God's existence. On the one hand, some of them are arguments and some are evidences used in special ways that are not similar to the arguments. On the other hand, some different factors are mentioned as factors effective on people's faith in God. These factors include cases not classified in rational categories such as arguments and evidences. Moreover, some situations are described in this Holy Book that show people choose their faith voluntarily. It will be important to find that how much is the contribution of each mentioned factor in having faith in God. Overall, it should be mentioned that analyzing the nature of faith is not the main task of this paper, but it is just a study about the comparison between the effect of reason on faith and the effect of volition according to the Holy Qur'ān. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addiction is a common condition affecting millions of people worldwide of which only a small proportion receives treatment. The development and use of healthcare services is influenced by how addiction is understood (e.g., a condition to treat, a shameful condition to stigmatize), notably with respect to how volition is impacted (e.g., addiction as a choice or a disease beyond one’s control). Through semi-structured qualitative interviews, we explore the implicit views and understandings of addiction and volition across three stakeholder groups: people with lived experience of addiction, clinicians with experience treating addiction, and members of the public without lived experience of addiction. We notably examine whether three paradigms, i.e., three philosophical sets of understandings about the nature of reality and knowledge (realism, relativism, pragmatism) reflect how stakeholders envision addiction and volition in the context of addiction. The use of these paradigms allows for the characterization of different stances on addiction and volition and an assessment of the coherence of beliefs about these matters. Our findings demonstrate that few participants relied on a single epistemic paradigm when describing their views. Furthermore, there were notable differences in understandings of volition between the clinician group, who were more oriented toward pragmatism, and people with lived experience of addiction, who were less oriented toward realism. Despite its limitations, our study suggests that a greater appreciation for the complexity of views held by different stakeholders about addiction and volition could help critically assess the search for coherence expressed in academic and policy debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveThe Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Study includes longitudinal multimodal assessments of RCMP cadets from pre-training (i.e., starting the Cadet Training Program [CTP]) to post-deployment and for five years thereafter. The data allow for investigating the multidimensionality of volitional participation in digital health data collection frameworks within serial data collection platforms and the impact of participation inequalities by classifying cadets using the 90–9-1 rule. By classifying cadets as Lurkers, Contributors, and Superusers formally described by the 90–9-1 rule, where 90% of actors do not participate, 9% seldom contribute, and 1% contribute substantially allows for the assessing of relationships between participation inequalities in self-monitoring behaviors as well as whether mental health disorder symptoms at pre-training (i.e., starting the CTP) were associated with subsequent participation.MethodsParticipants were asked to complete a Full Assessment prior to their training at CTP, as well as short daily surveys throughout their training. Participation frequency was described using a process where participants were rank ordered by the number of daily surveys completed and classified into one of three categories. Full assessment surveys completed prior to their training at CTP included screening tools for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive disorder (MDD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol use disorder (AUD), and panic disorder (PD). The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to assess differences in participation rates between mental health disorder symptom screening groups for each measure at pre-training, and Spearman’s Rho was used to test for associations amongst self-reported Full Assessment screening tool responses and the number of daily surveys completed during CTP.ResultsThere were 18557 daily survey records collected from 772 participants. The rank-ordering of cadets by the number of daily surveys completed produced three categories in line with the 90–9-1 rule: Superusers who were the top 1% of cadets (n=8) and produced 6.4% of all recordings; Contributors who were the next 9% of cadets (n=68) and produced 49.2% of the recordings; and Lurkers who were the next 90% of cadets (n=695) and produced 44.4% of daily survey recordings. Lurkers had the largest proportion of positive screens for self-reported mental health disorders at pre-training.ConclusionThe creation of highly individualized, population-based mental health injury programs has been limited by an incomplete understanding of the causal relationships between protective factors and mental health. Disproportionate rates of disengagement from persons who screen positive for mental health disorders further compounds the difficulty in understanding the relationships between training programs and mental health. The current results suggest persons with mental health challenges may be less likely to engage in some forms of proactive mental health training. The current results also provide useful information about participation, adherence, and engagement that can be used to inform evidence-based paradigm shifts in health-related data collection in occupational populations.

Undoubtedly, the problem of human beings and the recognition of his nature are considered to be the main concerns of Kant. This concern, before he began to write his critical philosophy, led him to research subjects related to human nature, and eventually led him to consider humanity as an answer to the main philosophical question. Kant distinguishes between two types of research on the nature of mankind: the pragmatic research that speaks of it in his ‘anthropology from a pragmatic point of view’, and transcendental research that is called ‘transcendental anthropology’, a term that he did not explain in any of his works. But what does Kant mean by this term and what does this concept mean about humans? In this article we are trying to examine two aspects of the term, the anthropological and transcendental, to clarify Kant’s mind and verify his definition of the human being. This study shows that Kant tries to examine the mental faculties of human beings to understand a priori what can be achieved about him. This study shows that, first, man is nothing but the origin of the laws of nature and can understand the fundamental laws of nature. Secondly, what to do is the moral law imposed upon him by his wit. And finally, what would have hoped is nothing more than that he realizes his ends through moral law and changes the natural world into the moral world.

This article argues that Bentham’s metaphysics has until recently been unfairly belittled, and that it in fact built on and surpassed that of David Hume, of whom Bentham was both an attentive student and a fierce critic. Bentham’s logic is metaphysically based, multi-levelled, and comprehensive. First, taking Hume’s empiricism as a starting point, Bentham developed the additional mechanism of “reflection” to facilitate a utilitarian pragmatic resolution to Hume’s skepticism. Second, unlike Hume, Bentham aspired to encyclopedic knowledge, especially of the human mind, which he believed allowed him to place his thought on a more solid and broader foundation. Third, whereas Hume focused on the passive understanding, Bentham captured the interaction between understanding and volition. Fourth, in relation to moral approbation, Hume adopted an approach which highlighted benevolence, whereas Bentham sought to reconcile self-preference with benevolence. Fifth, Hume’s common sense moral philosophy pushed him to associate justice with social convention, and helped to make him a conservative. Bentham developed the principle of utility to direct and push forward social reform for a better world.

Memory recollections and voluntary actions are often perceived as spontaneously generated irrespective of external stimuli. Although products of our neurons, they are only rarely accessible in humans at the neuronal level. Here I review insights gleaned from unique neurosurgical opportunities to record and stimulate single-neuron activity in people who can declare their thoughts, memories and wishes. I discuss evidence that the subjective experience of human recollection and that of voluntary action arise from the activity of two internal neuronal generators, the former from medial temporal lobe reactivation and the latter from frontoparietal preactivation. I characterize properties of these generators and their interaction, enabling flexible recruitment of memory-based choices for action as well as recruitment of action-based plans for the representation of conceptual knowledge in memories. Both internal generators operate on surprisingly explicit but different neuronal codes, which appear to arise with distinct single-neuron activity, often observed before participants' reports of conscious awareness. I discuss prediction of behaviour based on these codes, and the potential for their modulation. The prospects of editing human memories and volitions by enhancement, inception or deletion of specific, selected content raise therapeutic possibilities and ethical concerns.

The theoretical framework of classical thermodynamics unifies vastly diverse natural phenomena and captures once-elusive effects in concrete terms. Neuroscience confronts equally varied, equally ineffable phenomena in the mental realm, but has yet to unite or to apprehend them rigorously, perhaps due to an insufficient theoretical framework. The terms for mental phenomena, the mental variables, typically used in neuroscience are overly numerous and imprecise. Unlike in thermodynamics or other branches of physics, in neuroscience, there are no core mental variables from which all others formally derive and it is unclear which variables are distinct and which overlap. This may be due to the nature of mental variables themselves. Unlike the variables of physics, perhaps they cannot be interpreted as composites of a small number of axioms. However, it is well worth exploring if they can, as that would allow more parsimonious theories of higher brain function. Here we offer a theoretical exercise in the spirit of the National Institutes of Health Research Domain Criteria (NIH RDoC) Initiative and the Cognitive Atlas Project, which aim to remedy this state of affairs. Imitating classical thermodynamics, we construct a formal framework for mental variables, an extended analogy - an allegory - between mental and thermodynamic quantities. Starting with mental correlates of the physical indefinables length, time, mass or force, and charge, we pursue the allegory up to mental versions of the thermodynamic Maxwell Relations. The Maxwell Relations interrelate the thermodynamic quantities volume, pressure, temperature, and entropy and were chosen since they are easy to derive, yet capable of generating nontrivial, nonobvious predictions. Our "Mental Maxwell Relations" interlink the mental variables consciousness, salience, arousal, and distraction and make nontrivial, nonobvious statements about mental phenomena. The mental system thus constructed is internally consistent, in harmony with introspection, and respects the RDoC criteria of employing only psychologically valid constructs with some evidence of a brain basis. We briefly apply these concepts to the problem of decision-making and sketch how some of them might be tested empirically.

BackgroundTurning during walking and volitionally modulating walking speed introduces complexity to gait and has been minimally explored.Research questionHow do the spatiotemporal parameters vary between young adults walking at a normal speed and a slower speed while making 90°, 180°, and 360° turns?MethodsIn a laboratory setting, the spatiotemporal parameters of 10 young adults were documented as they made turns at 90°, 180°, and 360°. A generalized linear model was utilized to determine the effect of both walking speed and turning amplitude.ResultsYoung adults volitionally reducing their walking speed while turning at different turning amplitudes significantly decreased their cadence and spatial parameters while increasing their temporal parameters. In conditions of slower movement, the variability of certain spatial parameters decreased, while the variability of some temporal parameters increased.SignificanceThis research broadens the understanding of turning biomechanics in relation to volitionally reducing walking speed. Cadence might be a pace gait constant synchronizing the rhythmic integration of several inputs to coordinate an ordered gait pattern output. Volition might up-regulate or down-regulate this pace gait constant (i.e., cadence) which creates the feeling of modulating walking speed.

Our muscles are the primary means through which we affect the external world, and the sense of agency (SoA) over the action through those muscles is fundamental to our self-awareness. However, SoA research to date has focused almost exclusively on agency over action outcomes rather than over the musculature itself, as it was believed that SoA over the musculature could not be manipulated directly. Drawing on methods from human–computer interaction and adaptive experimentation, we use human-inthe-loop Bayesian optimization to tune the timing of electrical muscle stimulation so as to robustly elicit a SoA over electrically actuated muscle movements in male and female human subjects. We use time-resolved decoding of subjects’ EEG to estimate the time course of neural activity which predicts reported agency on a trial-by-trial basis. Like paradigms which assess SoA over action consequences, we found that the late (post-conscious) neural activity predicts SoA. Unlike typical paradigms, however, we also find patterns of early (sensorimotor) activity with distinct temporal dynamics predicts agency over muscle movements, suggesting that the “neural correlates of agency” may depend on the level of abstraction (i.e., direct sensorimotor feedback versus downstream consequences) most relevant to a given agency judgment. Moreover, fractal analysis of the EEG suggests that SoA-contingent dynamics of neural activity may modulate the sensitivity of the motor system to external input. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on recent work in psychology, I argue that there are not one but several distinct virtues pertaining to willpower or strength of will: (1) the disposition to exercise willpower; (2) a distinctively volitional kind of modesty, or moderation in exposing oneself to volitional strain; and (3) a distinctively volitional kind of confidence, or proper inattention to the possibility of volitional failure. A multiple-virtue conception of willpower, I argue, provides a useful framework for cultivating a good relationship to one’s own volitional limitations; resists an unhealthy emphasis on ‘powering through’ volitional obstacles; and avoids controversial empirical assumptions without giving up on making progress in ethical thought about willpower. I answer objections that the latter two virtues are incompatible, and that they add little of value to hope or belief in success. I then argue that combining these virtues requires a kind of flexible attention which, while difficult, is both psychologically possible and desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurosurgeons are in a unique position to shed light on the neural basis for consciousness, not only by their clinical care of patients with compromised states of consciousness, but also by employing neurostimulation and neuronal recordings through intracranial electrodes in awake surgical patients, as well as during stages of sleep and anethesia. In this review, we discuss several aspects of consciousness, i.e., perception, memory, and willed actions, studied by electrical stimulation and single neuron recordings in the human brain. We demonstrate how specific neuronal activity underlie the emergence of concepts, memories, and intentions in human consciousness. We discuss the representation of specific conscious content by temporal lobe neurons and present the discovery of "concept cells" and the encoding and retrieval of memories by neurons in the medial temporal lobe. We review prefrontal and parietal neuronal activation that precedes conscious intentions to act. Taken together with other studies in the field, these findings suggest that specific conscious experience may arise from stochastic fluctuations of neuronal activity, reaching a dynamic threshold. Advances in brain recording and stimulation technology coupled with the rapid rise in artificial intelligence are likely to increase the amount and analysis capabilities of data obtained from the human brain, thereby improving the decoding of conscious and preconscious states and open new horizons for modulation of human cognitive functions such as memory and volition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tommie Shelby has offered an influential, carefully stated, and well-argued set of objections to any volitional analysis of racism (VAR) as consisting centrally in certain forms of race-based disregard. Here I hope to defend aspects of VAR by analyzing, evaluating, and sometimes countering several of his major contentions, which have stood unchallenged in the literature over more than two decades. First, I sketch and respond to his Methodological objection to VAR, which criticizes VAR's reliance on language and linguistic intuitions; then to a Psychological objection, which suggests that VAR implausibly distances an agent's intentions from her beliefs; and, finally, to a Psychopathological objection, which holds that VAR requires treating as unproblematic some psychological states better seen as aberrant. The following section treats three subtle counterexamples Shelby uses to challenge VAR's core contentions about what's necessary and what's sufficient for racism. I close with some gestures toward what I see as a promising approach, very different from his, to studying these topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]